Warren Gatland has NO plans to place up to 37 Welsh players on dual contracts if civil war peace deal is agreed

WalesOnline has learned the New Zealander's reported extended list serves only as a succession plan in the build-up to the 2015 World Cup

Warren Gatland has much to ponder as the civil war continues to play out

Warren Gatland is not seeking to place up to 37 players on dual contracts in the event of a peace deal being brokered between the Welsh Rugby Union and the Regions, it has emerged.

The Wales boss HAS outlined nine of his stars he wants tied down to the deals which would be jointly funded by both sides – Alun Wyn Jones, Taulupe Faletau, Gareth Anscombe, Alex Cuthbert, Ken Owens, Dan Biggar, Gethin Jenkins, Scott Williams and Liam Williams – with Sam Warburton already on a central contract.

But rather than definitively earmark a further 27 players
– most of whom are relatively inexperienced at Test level – for dual contracts, as was reported by The Rugby Paper on Sunday, it's understood that the extended list serves more as the Wales team's succession plan following the summer tour of South Africa.

In contrast to the nine stars, plus Warburton, outlined above, Gatland views every player on the extended list as having the potential to feature at the World Cup, and their progress will be monitored closely this coming season.

Some may be offered dual deals, and Gatland already has an idea of who those may be. But, as yet, nothing concrete is in place, with the Kiwi coach seeking to work further with the regions on their development.

It's thought an annual pot of £3.3m will be set aside to fund dual contracts, with the WRU contributing 60% and the Regions making up the remainder.

Of course, the plans hinge entirely on a peace accord being agreed between the WRU and the Regions, something which does not seem imminent.

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The consequences of the stalemate will begin to have an effect on Gatland's Wales this weekend when two of his front-line stars, Sam Warburton
and Adam Jones
, are forced to sit out their regions’ first pre-season friendlies.

The Blues host Exeter and cannot field Warburton for insurance reasons as he is an employee of the WRU. They are also bound by their agreement with the other Regions not to use any player on a central contract.

Jones meanwhile remains frozen out of the game, a fresh deal with the Ospreys, who travel to Worcester on Friday, dependent on a peace deal. The Lions prop has been reduced to training at his old club Neath RFC.

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